Session after session after session after session. As the On-Site Seminar Manager for the Chicago Flower & Garden show, you’ve got to figure I have some takeaways to share. No, not leftover plants from the displays (darn). For this month’s Favorites on the Fifth, I’ll share my list of favorite informational takeaways from the show.
#1 – Best Quote
A quote from Rich Eyre at Foxwillow Pines:
“The sound of falling water is worth three psychiatrists.”
#2 – Best Gardens
Nearby places I want to see:
-The Chicago Art Institute garden designed by Roy Diblik of Northwind Perennials. Roy’s philosophy fully embraces native plantings.
– The Chicago Shedd Aquarium garden that won an Illinois Landscaper Construction Association (ILCA) Excellence award
#3 – Words of Wisdom
Tips from Chris Olsen, Landscape and Design Guru:
– Group 3 planters together. CRAM them full and SHOVE them together.
– Let your neighbors know when you are having a big party. Apologize for the cars and traffic. Then watch them all clean up their yards.
#4 – Attracting Monarchs
Pat Miller is a conservation specialist for Monarch Watch. She is a Master Naturalist and Plant Technician for the Morton Arboretum. Per Pat:
– Monarchs only lay eggs on milkweed. Milkweed is the only thing the monarch caterpillar eats. If you want monarchs, get milkweed.
– Most monarchs live about 4 weeks, but the monarchs towards the end of summer are built for the migration to Mexico and live up to 9 months. They ride the winds like hawks. Even the monarchs from Canada make the 3000 mile trip to Mexico.
Monarch caterpillar photo by Bette Watson
#5 – Best Book
Jeanne Pinsof Nolan does monthly organic garden workshops at Lincoln Park for Green City Market, as well as school programs. If she had to pick one gardening book, it would be “Rodale’s Ultimate Encyclopedia of Organic Gardening”.
#6 Local Flowers
Debra Prinzing’s new book “The 50 Mile Bouquet” promotes making your arrangements with plants from local growers. It surprised me to learn:
– 80% of cut flowers come from South America.
– 97% of Valentine roses come from South America.
– Only 2 floats in the Pasadena Rose Bowl Parade had American grown flowers this year.
#7 – Best Photography Tip
Mike Caplan may be best known as the WLS Meteoroligist, but to me he is a photographer. His photography session taught me to pretend there is a grid on my viewer when I am deciding what the focal point of my picture is. Think of it like a game of tic tac toe. The focus generally belongs at a grid intersection; only occasionally does the subject belong in the middle of the picture.
#8 – Best Lawn Care Tips
These tips come from Tom Tiddens of Chicago Botanic Gardens:
– Sharpen your lawnmower blade at least annually.
– Core aerate 1 – 2 times a year, late spring, early fall. Decreases compaction, Increases drainage, increases rooting, breaks thatch layer, and it’s then a great time to seed.
#9 – Best Bulb Tip
Jennifer Brennan’s and Mike Nowak’s “Dig In” Chicago TV show returns on April 27th to WCIU 26.
– Jennifer suggests starting summer bulbs inside now, just like you would start seeds now.
– We’ve taken that to a whole different level with over 150 dahlias currently growing in our basement. By the time Mike is done, we’ll have 400 – 500 for sales and for our yard.
#10 – Sad But True
Tony Fulmer of Chalet Nursery sadly acknowledges that Impatiens Downy Mildew (IDM) is here.
– IDM attacks regular impatiens, not New Guinea impatiens, or anything else.
– The plants lose all leaves and flowers.
– Spores are airborne and stay in the ground 5 – 10 years, so even if the plants are disease free when you get them, they are still very likely to die.
– Solution: Use alternatives like the new huge begonias that are available.
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